Army Staff Car

 WWII US staff car.  These should be olive drab in combat zones, but glossy olive for US Army, and glossy gray for US Navy in the United States.  Painted in glossy black they would probably work as a car to transport FDR or President Truman.

https://fidelismodels.com/collections/3d-filament-fighters-models/products/cadillac-series-75-staff-car

 

Cadillac staff car used for high ranking officers in World War Two. They were actually very common in Europe after the Normandy invasion, with olive drab paint jobs and full tactical markings.

 

This is a 3d printed Filament Fighters model sold by Fidelis Models in HO 1/87th scale.

 

I have about 50 Filament Fighters models and generally I like them a lot.  This particular one comes in a front and rear half.  It requires a little bit of sanding to make the roof as smooth as I like but it's not very time consuming.  I have one so far but I am sure I will get more of the staff car. 

SWS Halftrack

Roco SWS halftrack.  When Eadai made an SdKfz 251 I purchased a lot of them as they were 1/76th scale and there were none in HO 1/87 scale.  Eventually, Paul Heiser Models and Trident made the SdKfz 251 in a variety of versions and so I disposed of my Eadai ones.  I kept the forward machine guns, and mounted them on Roco SWS munitions carrier halftracks.  I use them as ersatz personnel carriers or as an armed munitions carrier.  I also added a bit of track from a Fujimi PanzerJager I model on the side of the cab.  You can also see a Roco shovel on the back, and a Jerry can from somewhere on the side.  All those extras really perk up this old model.

Roco Grille, modified with the earlier 88mm gun.  One of these was produced and saw service in Italy.  This version of the 88 was more reliable but the other was more capable.  Crew are Italeri German anti-tank gun crews and an Odemars WWII German Commanders figure.

It's a two minute conversion and gives me a unique vehicle.

And rather good looking I think.  This probably and Airfix 1/76th scale gun and shield and it might look better with a Roco HO scale 88mm but I don't have a spare one.  I think it looks okay.

Here you can see the front of the SWS.  It was not unusual for them to have a spare tire on the front.  I have done that with a few of them, but obviously not on this one.

The little sign designated the command center for the artillery company.  The fire direction center is located there for the whole company, each firing battery also has their own FDC.  It's hard to see but there is also a supply dump there too.

Commanders watch the action from a tall building.  Observing the fall of shot for indirect fire.

Marx tree in the snow.  Guns at the ready.
 

Figures and Roco

Odemars WWII German commanders in a ruined building.

With a guard from Caesar Miniatures.

Tiger III tank with the small turret.

Roco Tiger II with an old Roco Panther turret and replacement 88mm gun.

Troops use rangefinders to insure first round hits against advancing Soviet tanks.

Odemars German Commander figure with Roco sound detector from an SWS halftrack, in place as a ground mount.

Roco Kubelwagen.  I got it used; the previous owner did a great paint job.  Window frame is broken but has since been repaired.

 Odemars German Commanders, Revell German Artillery, Caesar Miniatures German Artillery Crew.

Germans In the Defensive

Caesar 1/72nd scale WWII Germans in the snow.  These are a mix of several different sets from them.

I took a small brush and brushed out trenches for the troops.  In real life soft snow would provide no protection for the troops, but packed snow would provide a little bit.

More men advance along the communications trench.

They are armed with the SG-44 assault rifle and other automatic weapons.

The Tiger III with the small turret.

Grille with the FlaK 37 gun.

Anti-tank / anti-aircraft company headquarters and supply depot.  Roco SWS halftrack and Kubelwagen.

Sound detector to listen for the Russian advance at night.
 

AA Guns in the Snow

Versuchsflakwagen fur 8.8cm Flak 41 or as we know it the Roco Grille Z-105 model was a self propelled gun made in late World War Two by the Germans.  Only three were produced, however the same gun mount and shield was used as a ground mounted gun in both the anti-aircraft and anti-tank role as early as 1943 in Tunisia. 

I have converted 12 into ground mounts to use with my German troops. 

Over 300 of them were built during the war.

I am also making a few to paint in desert scheme for my Germans in Tunisia.

The crew figures here are from Caesar Miniatures.

Platoons of four guns, with a company of three platoons for a total of 12 guns.

Figures are from several different sets of Caesar Miniatures as well as a couple from Odemars, all in 1/72nd scale.

Troops in a snow trench.
 

Odemars, Roco, and Ceasar on the Russian Front

We only get a few days a year with any snow accumulation here in KY, USA.

So when I get a little snow, I like to take advantage of it by setting up a few figures in the snow.

This snow is about 2-3 inches deep.  I took a 2 inch paint brush and used it to brush the snow into trenches.  I made gun emplacements by pushing a water bottle into the snow to make a circular impression for the guns.

This set up uses Roco Minitanks, mostly very old ones.  This is part of an SWS halftrack, the "sound detector."  I removed the dish and mounted it on a ground mount.  I use it variously as a radar dish and as a sound detector.  1/72nd scale figure by Odemars.

Roco Tiger II converted into a Tiger III.  It has a Tiger II hull with a Roco old Panther turret.  The turret has been modified with a new vertical turret face and the addition of the Tiger II gun.  The Roco old Panther turret is very similar in size and shape to the Trident Models Panther small turret version, Panther F.  The Germans determined that making the turret front face narrow and then sloping out the sides they could decrease hits on the face and more readily deflect hits.  The M60A1 American Patton tank has a similar configuration to the turret.

The buildings are some resin kits I got 20+ years ago.  I don't know who made them, or even where I got them anymore.

Odemars German Commanders and Caesar Miniatures figures in the upper floors observing the action, both are 1/72nd scale.  When I started collecting in 1963 the only sets were 1/72nd scale figures by Airfix and 1/87 scale vehicles by Roco.  I was not allowed model glue until a few years later and so I needed the snap together construction of the Roco.  Also Roco had a vary large number of vehicles on offer, far more that all the 1/72nd scale companies combined.

Roco Grille gun dismounted and turned into the ground mount version.
 

Police Downtown

Police downtown.  I plan to use these for my War of the Worlds scenarios for about half of the 20th Century.  They would be the first line of defense in the US as it does take some time to mobilize the US Armor or National Guard; typically a couple days.

Riot gun at the ready.

Pistol at the low ready.

Aiming the pistol, with the Paddy Wagon.

Night stick.  The day stick looks just like it but is shorter.  Police in uniforms as would be worn from as early as the 1920s to as late as the 1960s, but most common just before and after WWII.  Especially in the Eastern USA.

In the United States at least 100 police officers have been killed in the line of duty every year since 1945.
 

Police

Red Box Policemen and Citizens in 1/72nd scale.

I got a few of these several years ago and now I got two more sets.

About half of the figures are uniformed police.

Several of the others could be police detectives.

In rural America, from about 1880 to now, these people could be a posse or at least for the period from 1880 to about 1940 a couple of the men could even be a sheriff.  Many sheriffs did not wear uniforms, as such, until about 1940.

A very useful group of armed civilians, the woman is rather dated as few would dress like this after 1960.

Police in any big city could look like this from about 1920 until 1970.

Even then a simple head swap with a bare headed figure would add perhaps another 10 years to their usefulness.  American police generally gave up the revolver after 1980 in favor of semi-automatic handguns.